Former Arizona Cardinals head coach and current USC Trojans senior offensive analyst Kliff Kingsbury is reportedly scheduled to interview for the Chicago Bears' offensive coordinator position, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPN's Adam Schefter on Thursday (January 18).
The Bears currently hold the No. 1 overall pick -- as well the No. 9 overall pick -- in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft and are expected by many to take former USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who played under Kingsbury this past season.
"Former Cardinals’ HC Kliff Kingsbury, a senior offensive analyst and quarterbacks coach at USC, is expected to interview for the Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator job, per sources. Kingsbury’s USC QB Caleb Williams is expected to receive strong consideration to become the Bears’ No. 1 overall pick," Schefter wrote on his X account.
Kingsbury was fired by the Cardinals last January, which NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport described as feeling "more like a mutual parting than anything." The 44-year-old had signed an extension running through the 2027 in March 2022, coming off his best season as the Cardinals' head coach since being hired in 2019.
Arizona finished the 2021 season with an 11-6 record for second-place in the NFC West, before being eliminated by the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Wild Card playoff round. The Cardinals had improved their record from the previous season during Kingsbury's past two seasons, finishing with a 5-10-1 record during his first season and 8-8 in 2020.
But the team fell short of expectations in 2022, finishing with a 4-13 record, which was the third worst among all 32 NFL teams and missed the playoffs for the third time in Kingsbury's four-year coaching tenure. Kingsbury, who played quarterback at Texas Tech and as an NFL backup, had previously worked as a quarterbacks coach -- as well as an offensive coordinator -- at Houston and later Texas A&M, as well as the head coach at his alma matter.
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